The former director of the Initiative Nord Hautes-Alpes platform was sentenced to three years in prison, including one year subject to change this Thursday by the Gap criminal court. The former president of Modem 05 has ten days to appeal this decision.
Stephan Blondel was sentenced to three years in prison by the Gap criminal court (Hautes-Alpes) this Thursday, November 14 in the afternoon, BFM DICI learned. In detail, he was sentenced to one year in prison and two years suspended.
The firm sentence will be adjusted, for example by wearing an electronic bracelet following the decision of the sentence enforcement judge.
A damning report
The former director of the Nord Hautes-Alpes Initiative platform (INHA), was prosecuted for embezzlement, breach of trust, forgery and use of forgery and fraudulent organization of insolvency to escape a patrimonial conviction.
On October 10, the Gap prosecutor's office requested a three-year suspended prison sentence. Stephan Blondel now has ten days to appeal this decision.
It all started in 2021 when the General Inspectorate of the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region questioned expenditure of several tens of thousands of euros within Initiative Nord Hautes-Alpes. This platform, in fact, is a member association of a national network which aims to help businesses that are getting started.
Followinga damning report made by the General Inspectorate, the Gap public prosecutor's office launched an investigation which ended at the start of 2023.
Loans to several businesses and small businesses
Largely financed by banks and the region, Initiative Nord Hautes-Alpes offers zero-interest loans to small businesses, with the average aid amounting to around 10,000 euros.
Many companies and small businesses were able to easily get started thanks to theINHA and to the work of Stephan Blondel for around twenty years. Very involved in the economic life of Hautes-Alpes since a stint at the CCI of Briançon, Stephan Blondel enjoyed a powerful network since he held political office.
President of Modem des Hautes-Alpes until the merger of François Bayrou and Emmanuel Macron, Stephan Blondel also worked in Alain Bayrou's close guard when he was on the general council of Hautes-Alpes. Later, he ran for cantonal elections in Briançonnais, without success.
